Inhale, then exhale. A focus on breathing is one of the first steps in yoga and mindfulness classes being taught among children and teens and their teachers in schools throughout the Pittsburgh area.Click here for full article.(Subscription may be required.)

Developed in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Center for Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL), this interactive “toolkit” identifies key policy levers in ESSA that principals must advocate for as states and districts draft implementation plans. It also offers communications resources to effectively engage policy makers, and the tools needed to develop engagement strategies such as evidence to draw upon in support of the theory of action. The expertise and guidance in the action plan includes specific talking points and resources on:

Standards and Assessments

Accountability

School Improvement

District Title I Plans and Resources

Providing Professional Support

Student Supports and Academic Enrichment

High Quality Early Learning

In light of the recent letter from Secretary DeVos, which emphasized that states should continue to move forward with the ESSA planning process despite the freeze on accountability and state plans until March 21, 2017, it is hoped that you will find the action guide useful for planning as well as for full implementation of the new law over the coming years.

More Pennsylvanians already attend charter schools than students in most other states. With Betsy DeVos leading the U.S. Department of Education, school choice proponents hope — and critics fear — their numbers will rise.Click here for full article. (Subscription may be required.)Source: Meadville Tribune, Feb 11, 2017.

School Counselors play a significant role in supporting students as they work together with families, teachers, and administrators. PVAAS provides school counselors with a comprehensive view of a student's entire state assessment history, as well as projecting future assessments such as performance on PSSA, Keystones and AP exams. The statewide PVAAS team is offering a new professional learning opportunity for school counselors and administrators to strengthen decision-making criteria when identifying appropriate courses and programs, course placement, student interventions/ supports, and to encourage student participation and success in college readiness exams. Please see the attached flyers for more information on the two sessions that will be held on February 24, 2017 at IU13. There is one session for grades 9-12 in the morning, and another session for grades 4-8 in the afternoon.

Members of the education community are pleased to see that Gov. Tom Wolf hopes to increase education funding next year. But some worries remain about how lawmakers will move forward with addressing mandated costs — expenses related to pensions, employee benefits, special education and charter schools, for example — that keep climbing.Click here for full article. Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 8, 2017.

Some Pennsylvania education advocates are disappointed that Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos is officially the U.S. Secretary of Education, but many said today they will continue to press her to protect public education.

Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would abolish the federal Department of Education. The bill, just one sentence long, reads “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”